St. Cloud State names new women's head hockey coach

Eric and Amy Rud still own a home in St. Cloud. The couple gets to decide whether to continue having people rent it or to move back into it.

Eric Rud, 41, was named the new St. Cloud State women's head hockey coach on Tuesday. The Ruds continue to own the home they bought when he was a St. Cloud State men's hockey assistant coach from 2005-10. He replaces Jeff Giesen, whose contract was not renewed after eight seasons.

"We might just rent the place for a year and then see what's happening," Rud said. "Step one was to get the job."

Rud was one of five candidates to interview on campus with a search committee. The other four to interview were St. Cloud State women's assistant coach Jim Fetter, former St. John's University head coach John Harrington, Burnsville girls hockey coach Tracy Cassano and Trinity College women's hockey coach Jenny Potter.

Rud will be introduced as the Huskies' new coach at 5 p.m. on Thursday at the Husky Den in the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center in St. Cloud. The public is invited to attend.

"In the end, his success recruiting, not only overall, but at St. Cloud State and his great passion for this university and community made it a nice fit," St. Cloud State athletic director Heather Weems said. "He has such a compassionate and wonderful approach to coaching.

"I think what he will bring to this program in terms of skill development and as a teacher will be well received."

St. Cloud State goalie Julie Friend, the team's MVP in 2013-14, will be a senior next season. Friend said that she and the returning players were in on conference calls during the interview process.

"One of the big things he said that he likes to bring is a player-and-coach relationship and we've had that with a coach where you can go into their office and talk about anything," Friend said. "He really seemed like he has a passion for St. Cloud State hockey.

"It's exciting to finally have (a coach)," said Friend, whose team went through spring workouts with assistant coaches Jim and Shera Vetter. "It'll be fun to get things going. I've heard nothing but great things from former players and coaches."

Background

Rud has had an interesting offseason. He was an assistant coach for the Colorado College men's hockey team since 2011.

Colorado College head coach Scott Owens resigned after 15 seasons on April 5 after the Tigers went 7-24-6. Rud interviewed for the head coaching position, but Mike Haviland was introduced as Owens' successor May 13.

"It's certainly been a crazy couple of months that ends with me getting this position," Rud said. "Going back to St. Cloud State is amazing and I couldn't be more thrilled with the way it worked out in the end."

There was one season, 2010-11, between Rud's assistant coaching stops at Colorado College and St. Cloud State. That season, Rud was the head coach and general manager of the Green Bay Gamblers, a junior hockey team in the United States Hockey League.

The Gamblers had the best regular season record in the USHL (42-12-6) and made to the playoff championship series, the Clark Cup Finals.

He also served as an assistant for Colorado College (2004-05) and Cedar Rapids of the USHL (2002-04) and as a player assistant coach for Idaho (2000-02) and Florida (1999-2000) in the ECHL. This will be his first time coaching women.

"There was no trepidation," Rud said of coaching women. "I'm excited to be a head coach again and excited to work with the women in this program.

"I love teaching the game of hockey. This opportunity allows me to teach the game and be a mentor to these women," said Rud, a former Colorado College defenseman and Simley High School graduate.

Looking ahead

Rud, though, anticipates that there will be challenges along the way.

"There will definitely be a learning curve," he said. "I expect there to be differences.

"I'm excited to just dig in and learn. I'll have to get through that quickly. But I'm really excited about the transition. I'll have a lot to learn from them and, hopefully, they learn a lot from me."

He inherits a team that went 4-27-5 last season and 13-94-7 in Giesen's last four seasons as coach. There are eight forwards, six defensemen and three goalies with eligibility remaining off of last season's team.

"We haven't had the success we've wanted in the past and we're hoping that the new coach can bring that," Friend said. "We're excited to have a new change and hope he's going to be the factor that turns this program around."

Rud said he plans on talking to the returning and committed players "as soon as I can. I want to let everyone know how anxious I am to get started."

One of the next tasks for Rud will be to begin recruiting, an area that Weems has some goals for him to establish.

"I want to make sure we have a presence in Minnesota, that we're a good option for players out there," she said. "We may need to pepper that with Canadian and international players, but this is where a lot of the best women's players are coming from."

The challenge

St. Cloud State has had three winning seasons (17-16-2 in 2000-01, 18-15-5 in 2007-08 and 15-14-8 in 2009-10) since the program began in 1998.

Since the NCAA began sanctioning women's tournament championships in Division I in 2001, either Minnesota, Wisconsin or Minnesota-Duluth have played for national titles. All three teams are in St. Cloud State's league, the WCHA.

"I think, given our location and conference, we have a lot to offer student-athletes," Rud said. "I can't wait to dig in and bring in the best women we can find.

"I'm actually really excited about learning the different (recruiting) pool, reinventing myself as a recruiter and coach. There's going to be a chance to build new relationships and new connections."

Rud said he plans to speak with the Fetters about what their plans are in the next few days. Jim Fetter has one year remaining on his contract. Shera Fetter was an emergency hire last fall and needs to apply for the position full time this summer if she is interested in returning.

"We're going to see what's a good fit for everybody and build on what we're doing," Weems said. "Jim and Shera have done a wonderful job making connections and keeping things going through this process.

"We'll wait and see, but I know that we will put together a great staff."